Bicycle-chain.



N0. 664,48l. Patented Deb. 25, 1900.

A. l. JACOBS.

BICYCLE CHAIN.

(Application filed Dec. 23, 1895.) No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR I. JACOBS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN BICYCLE COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, AND

NEW YORK, N. Y.

BICYCLE-CHAIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N 0. 664,481, dated December 25, 1900.

Application filed December 23, 1895. Serial No. 5'73 ,039. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR I. JACOBS,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBicycleChains, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of driving-chains used in connection with sprocketwheels for the transmission of power and usually made up of a number of connected blocks and links united by pivots.

The object of my invention is to provide a chain of this general class having fastening means the use of which will avoid faults and defects in prior chains and enable a more durable chain to be produced.

To this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts making up the chain and in the means for fastening such parts together and in the combination of such parts,as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to-the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of a portion of a chain, showing my improved fastening means. Fig.'2 is a detail top view of a portion of a chain cut in central section through one of the pivots and showing the construction'of the means for securing the links to the pivots in one position of the parts. Fig. 3 is a like detail view, on an enlarged scale, with the fastening-lip swaged or spun down into place. Fig. 4 is a detail view, in central lengthwise section, through one of the links, showing the hole as counterbored. Fig. 5 is a like detail view showing the lip in the second step of securing it in place. Fig. 6 is a detail edge view of one of the blocks.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the blocks, b the links, and c the pivots or studs used for uniting the links and pivots.

Each of the blocks is preferably formed of hardened steel, is oblong in shape, with round-' ed ends a a and has transverse holes a a, forming sockets for the pivot portion of the stud used to unite the blocks and the links, the blocks having a rotary movement on the pivot as the chain is commonly used. The outer end of each stud is preferably reduced in diameter, forming a shoulder and leaving the pivot portion of a length substantially equal to the width of'each block.

The links I) are straps of comparatively thin metal, with holes in the opposite ends of a diameter to fit closely upon the reduced end of the stud, to which the links are sometimes secured in the prior art by heading the outer end of the stud as a rivet over upon the outer surface of the link.

In order to upset and head over the outer end of the stud forming the rivet, it must be left comparatively soft, while it is desirable that the body of-the stud forming the pivot shall be extremely hard, so as to prevent its wearing in the socket in the block under the constant wear in use. In order to enable the stud as a whole to be hardened, I have provided a means of securing each link to the rivet end of the stud, and it consists in a fastening-lip formed integral with the link and surrounding the rivet-opening through the link, which is spun and forced into an annu- A lar groove in the rivet portion of the stud.

In the rivet portion 0 of the stud an annular groove 0 is formed, so as to provide a shoulder, underneath which the attaching-lip may be forced.

In carrying out my improvement a hole I) is made through the link 1) near its end and is counterbored, so as to leave a lip 11 This lip is then turned upward and outward as by means of a punch having a rounded end, thus making the hole as a whole of a diameter to fit snugly upon the rivet portion of the stud. A link having the lip W, as described, is socured to the pivot by slipping the link onto the rivet end, and then, as by means of a suitable tool, the substance of the lip b is spun over and forced into the annular groove 0 in the stud, thus preventing any lateral movement of the link outward on the rivet portion of the stud.

On the rivet portion of the stud, between the pivot portion and the annular groove 0 is formed a link-support 0 This link-support is of a length equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the link. It is shown in the drawings as slightly less than the thickness of the link; but this form need not be strictly adhered to, as a longer support may be provided, if desired. In carrying out my invention it has been found by continued experiments that in spinning the lip b into the annular groove 0 the link must be firmly supported in a manner to avoid any movement Whatever of the pivot and link With regard to each other. If the link is not firmly supported, the parts are distorted and the pitch of the chain thus changed. The distortion adjacent to a single pivot'might not amount to more than a thousandth part of an inch or less; but a distortion at each of the pivots for the entire length of the chain would cause; a defect to render the chain practically worthless.

In order to enable the several parts to work smoothly, the pivot portion of the stud is usually slightly longer than the width of the block, and the inner surfaces of the links on the opposite sides of the block rest on the shoulders formed by reducing the outerends of the stud to form the rivet portion, and the links are held against outward movement by the fastening means. The fastening means,

comprising the groove in the rivet portion and the fastening-lip integral with the link,

pivot-stud having a reduced portion and an annular groove of much less width than the reduced portion and formed near its end, and a link having an opening closely fitting said reduced portion and a lip closed into said annular groove flush with the outer surface of the link.

2. In combination in a driving-chain, a'

pivot-stud having a reduced portion and an annular groove of much less width than the reduced portion and formed near its end, and a link having an opening closely fitting said reduced portion and a lip formed from an upturned annular flange from the inner Wall of the openingand closed into the groove.

ARTHUR I. JACOBS.

Witnesses:

FELTON PARKER, THOS. Fox. 

